<p>Okay, please don’t flame the old lady here with the checkbook!</p>
<p>I’m in love with online banking and bill pay, work with computers all day long, etc but I just haven’t adopted the debit card thing. Still write checks at grocery store. Use credit card at HomeDepot, BBB, Walmart and always pay balance off at month’s end.</p>
<p>Now, my dopey bank will begin service charge on checking. Don’t really want to switch bank but am NOT paying for checking when there are literally 20 other choice in my small town, not to mention online that are still free. My bank will waive fee with debit card use.</p>
<p>So, please teach me…HOW do you use a debit card? Bank tells me store will walk me through, store clerks are not helpful. Swipe? Sign? PIN? Select credit/debit?
Is one method more secure than another?</p>
<p>Arrrgh…I am so confused!
Can you help me ditch the checkbook???</p>
<p>Most banks are now charging for regular checking unless you have some kind of high balance accounts or something similar. We still get “free” checking because our bank holds our mortgage AND we have auto payment for the mortgage. Otherwise, we’d be paying too.</p>
<p>My husband does NOT use a debit card. He uses his ATM card to get cash and then pays with cash…that is another option for you if you do not want to use a debit card.</p>
<p>Re: debit card use…you will get your debit card and you will also need to create a PIN for use with it. When you get to a vendor (grocery store, Target, nail spa), you will see a little card swiper at the checkout. Your balance will be told to you…you will swipe your debit card in the little swiper. It will then ask you to choose debit or credit. You pick…if you pick debit, it will then ask for your PIN and you will type that into the little machine and hit “enter”. It will then ask you if the amount is correct…and also if you want cash back. You make the right choices and your checking account is immediately debited with that amount.</p>
<p>The other option you could choose would be to get a credit card with your bank. Charge all of your purchases and then pay the credit card bill online. What I do now, I will make a charge and then immediately come home and pay the credit card online for the purchase.</p>
<p>I DO still maintain two checking accounts…one with my credit union (it’s free) and the other with my bank as I still get bills that cannot be paid online.</p>
<p>Thanks, Thumper, for the step by step! Exactly what I was hoping for.</p>
<p>We are actually avoiding fees on our ‘free’ checking by having my paycheck deposited directly. It’s my disabled adult d’s acct that they will start charging a fee soon and she doesn’t have a large enough paycheck deposit to avoid the fee.
Bank will waive the fee if she/I use a debit card 5 times/month. So, we’ll try that.</p>
<p>I still remember reading online somewhere that debit card don’t offer the same ‘security’ as charge cards, ie fraud protection. And that you should select ‘credit’ even with a debit card and sign for the purchase…can’t tell if I imagined all that though!</p>
<p>BTW, I have been using your exact method for paying charged purchases for awhile…pick up car at repair shop, pay with charge card, go home and pay online to credit card bank. Saves the shock of overly large bill at month’s end.</p>
<p>Why use checks (or a debit card) at the grocery when you’re already using a CC at the other stores? Just use your CC at the grocery as well - preferably a cash back CC like the Costco AmEx and some others.</p>
<p>I’ll admit it - I get annoyed if the person checking out in front of me pays with a check (but I’m not the patient type by any stretch). This is exacerbated when some of them don’t seem to even get the checkbook out or start writing it until everything is all rung up. </p>
<p>Just swiping a CC is so much quicker and easier and can pay cash back to you as well.</p>
<p>I guess the checks are my attempt to pay as I go with most everyday stuff.
Deducted from checking registry on the spot so I see what my balance is at all times. Same effect as debit use except the ‘writing the check’ part.</p>
<p>I totally agree that some check writers START the process when given their balance.I’m a really polite old lady check writer…I fill out most of the check while on line and then just fill in the amount at checkout!</p>
<p>Don’t want to use CC for everything, it piles up toooo fast with two of us using it.
Use it at gas stations and restaurants and often pay online whenever I feel like it.
7.99% interest on rare occasions that I choose to carry a balance.</p>
<p>^^ I knew you’d be good about the check writing.</p>
<p>If you don’t have a cash back CC you might want to try it. It feels good to know they pay you to use it and as long as one can be disciplined to pay it off each month then there’s really no down side.</p>
<p>(Disclaimer: this is info I posted a while back and it is possible the issues have changed. I have not researched recently. But these are important “heads up” items if they have not changed).</p>
<ol>
<li><p>With a credit card, if you are over your limit, your attempt to make a purchase will be denied. With a debit card, it will not. So you will pay interest on the amount you have now “borrowed” (the amount over the cash balance in your bank account) AND you will pay a penalty fee (sometimes hefty; I have heard of fees of $39) for EACH time you go over your balance. You can search this board to see instances of students who unwittingly went over their balance 3 or 4 times in one trip to the mall: $39 * 4 - cha ching!!</p></li>
<li><p>With a credit card, if you are a victim of fraud, your losses are limited to $50… the bank eats any further losses… so long as you report the problem to the bank within 60 days.
With a debit card, if you are a victim of fraud, your losses can go as high as $500 or more and are limited ONLY if you notify the bank within 48 hours!! Often you would not even be aware of the fraud within 48 hours.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>A major supermarket chain in our area suffered massive hacking into their checkout processing machines (similar thing had happened in other areas at TJMaxx or similar). Although we were not affected, thousands of people who had used credit cards were fine. Thousands who had used debit cards suffered $$ losses and huge inconvenience. It was a learning process for our entire metro area and the local newspaper did a lot of public service educational articles on this issue. </p>
<p>Use your credit card and pay it off in full each month!</p>
<p>I never use my PIN for anything but at the atm. I go into the store, I hand it to the person or swipe it through a machine if directed, I either tell the cashier or select “credit,” sign my name, and I am done. It just comes out of your checking account like a check. I have NEVER run it as debit in the three years I’ve had it. I still use both checks and a credit card, but the debit card is nice. I edit my checkbook register when I use it just as though I’d written a check. I prefer to run it as credit rather than debit as I figure the less often I have to use my PIN, the less likely it is that someone will be able to steal it.</p>
<p>Recently my bank changed their overdraft policy and now, unless I opted to elect otherwise, my card WILL be denied if I overdraw. My mom did opt in wanting to be able to overdraw in an emergency, I didn’t because I have a credit card I barely use anyway that could be used just as well in an emergency. But I had that choice to opt in or out of that. We used to have a free overdraft protection that would automatically withdraw from a linked savings account if you overdrew which was really nice, but they recently did away with that, it’s worth seeing what your bank offers in that regard.</p>
<p>Use the credit card and pay it off - much more protection and no risk. I don’t know any “money experts” that recommend using a debit card for anything.</p>
<p>Most banks will waive the fee if you use the debit card at an ATM five times in the month. Rather than using it as a debit card, just make 5 small ATM withdrawals (they can be as low as $20) and then use the cash for everyday purchases.</p>
<p>I, too, was confused about the debit card. I use cc for almost everything, ATM card for cash, and check for the occasional payments when cash/cc wont do.</p>
<p>My ATM card now says Check Card. I assume check card = debit card. Is there a difference between an ATM card and a debit card? The card also has the visa logo. Does that mean it can be used as a credit card?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What happens if you choose credit? Does the bank give you a loan and not deduct the amount from the checking account immediately? Or does the card swiper simply stop your transaction because you have picked the wrong card type?</p>
<p>I only use my debit card at the ATM machine because I dont understand what it does!</p>
<p>Yes, dreammom. That means you can use it as a debit/credit card, you can swipe it at the store to pay for things out of your checking account.</p>
<p>If you choose credit it still comes out of your checking account, there is no loan or anything. It does not stop your transaction or anything. It is almost exactly like writing a check. It is not /really/ a credit card. </p>
<p>Your bank could probably explain these things to you if you sat down with a rep.</p>
<p>If you use your debit card but select “credit” the amt. is still taken from your checking acct. because that debit card is only connected to your checking acct.</p>
<p>I have rarely used my debit card except at the ATM. You used to be able to get a card at our bank that was just an ATM card and could only be used to at our banks ATMs. However, since I travel a lot, frequently overseas, I went for the debit/check card so I can use it at other banks’ ATMs and abroad. I never used it for purchases unless none of my credit cards work. </p>
<p>I have one credit card that I use for everything and pay off completely each month. Each S has a credit card that we pay for, S1 for emergencies since he has his own cc & debit cards, and S2 for expenses at college. It is FAR too easy for there to be fraud with a debit card. S2 encountered a mix up at a restaurant. Since our local bank’s debit cards all look the same, a waitress interchanged his and someone else’s at a restaurant. He realized it the next day, called the person, and they met and exchanged cards. The other person had made a gas purchase and gave S2 the cash for it, but it so easily could have been otherwise.</p>
<p>For work I have a debit card and 2 ccs. Only use it when I need a Mastercard as the 2 ccs are Visa and Amex.</p>
<p>Wow, lots of good info, thank you!
Happy I’m not the only one a bit confused about this.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, I’m ONLY interested in learning how to use the debit card in order to get around the bank’s new policy regarding monthly fees. Use it 5 times/month (ATM withdrawals don’t count at my bank) and they will waive the monthly fee. So, I figure 5 trips to the local Walgreens for shampoo, toothpaste, etc to save the $16 that my DD doesn’t need to lose from her quite small account.</p>
<p>My acct has no charge with direct deposit >$500 which is not an option for DD.</p>
<p>From above, sounds like there are TWO ways to use a debit card:
Hand to clerk or swipe as DEBIT, enter PIN and accept.
or
Hand to clerk or swipe as CREDIT and SIGN to accept.</p>
<p>^So, there is basically NO difference in picking CREDIT or DEBIT when using the debit card. Either case, the entire amount will be deducted from the checking account. If your account balance is below the amount, the transaction will not go through - the CREDIT option does not imply any overdraft protection, right?</p>
<p>My D asked for an ATM card … got a debit card. “Same as an ATM card, but better because you can use it in stores too!” Seemed right, until the last statement when she spotted a $25 charge for (the default) points program. She was able to go to the bank and unenroll. Still, it might be wise to make sure there are no phantom features with your Debit Card.</p>
<p>musicmom: I also am late to the debit card game; have only been using it for about 4 months. I wanted to give you a heads-up about a little problem that I had at first, not with the card, but with my bookkeeping.</p>
<p>I had always entered the check in my register right there at the counter. For some reason, that doesn’t seem natural when I use the debit card. Instead, I grab the receipt, stuff it into my checkbook, and then record it later. That’s the theory anyway.</p>
<p>In the first month, there were several times that I had the cashier put the receipt into the bag, as I always did before. Got home, forgot about the receipt and tossed it. Of course, those purchases did NOT get recorded, which I only discovered when I balanced the checkbook. So you just want to make sure that you have a system to ensure that your purchases are recorded.</p>